The Computer Is Your Friend: SHINY TOY WANT MODE

[athelind]

The Kno: A giant double-screen tablet to replace giant textbooks.

Kno Movie from Kno, Inc. on Vimeo.

I'm not much of a tech-fiend or an early adopter. My usual reaction at the Shiny Tech Toy of the Minute is, "huh, that's kinda cool", but it's seldom if ever "OMG I GOTTA HAVE IT".

Even now, as I'm looking at the Kno, my reaction is, "Yes, this is finally getting to what I want in the elusive 'electronic book' -- something that retains the utility of a hardcopy book while simultaneously taking advantage of the new medium."

Up until now, the ebook readers I've seen haven't done either. They've been the Worst of Both Worlds: a static page without any of the convenient features that let the spine-bound book render the continuous scroll obsolete. That's fine for a novel, but for any kind of reference work at all, it's useless. If I'm, say, playing an RPG, and trying to run combat, even the best-organized rulebooks I've seen have me flipping back and forth between three or more widely-separated sections at once.

A reader-tablet that's set up to properly display two-page spreads, to let me jot notes, to let me flip back and forth casually between sections? One that's ALSO set up to hyperlink and cross-reference? And, of course, to have animated illustrations and even embedded video? To have two books open at once, or a full-on web browser on one screen with a textbook on the other?

This is the frakkin' Diamond Age, boys and girls. Or the first real stab at it, anyway.

halfelf is holding out for a tablet that has both a capacitive and a resistive screen, so you can do both the Cool iPhone Multi-Touch Tricks and the Pressure-sensitive Drawing Tablet Tricks. Call it the "fingerpaint interface".

It would be NICE to be able to use something like the Kno as a full-fledged graphics tablet, but it's not a deal-breaker for me. I can live without that. After all, I can't use my laptop as one, either.

In short: WANT. If this thing isn't just vaporware, I'll be eagerly awaiting announcements of price points.

Even if it is ... this is the interface of the future. This is what an "ebook reader" will have to look like to be as useful as a spine-bound book. It doesn't have to be this large, but it's going to have to be this flexible.

Take a good look, people. This could be the printkiller.

Comments

[tephra]

I want one of those. Yes, being able to use it as a drawing tablet as well would be extra awesome but I could live with out it.

[flamingwars.livejournal.com]

That's amazing!

Definitely beats whats out on the market now, even the iPad in my opinion.

I agree, I've been looking into e-readers. The price and the practical use just doesn't add up for me. Maybe I'm just old school and like my books on paper or that maybe I don't even read much due to the lack of time.

My real wonder is, how exactly will these publishers react? Surely, somehow they have to figure out how to exploit the system and over-charge one way or another. Just like they do nowadays.

Plus another problem with the times now are all these copyright issues. Do I really own a book when I buy a digital format? Will I be able to re-download them if something happens to them?

I'm loving how we're moving from paper to digital but it has me worried about who here is really in control of their possessions nowadays. But I suppose that falls under a whole new different issue.

Anyway, just rambling, aside from all that I like where this trend is going. :]

[drleo.livejournal.com]

Gee. If only the company I worked for would do that. Oh wait, they were, but it was too good an idea and so they killed it.

Grump.

[ceruleanst.livejournal.com]

I hope what it kills is this stupid trend of things that don't open and close. "It's more accessible, hurrr!" No, convenience is something you can drop in a pocket or purse without needing some kind of case, sold separately, to protect the screen from being scratched and/or the buttons from being pushed.

[leonard-arlotte.livejournal.com]

I looked, and wasn't hugely impressed. It is frakking huge, weighs five and half pounds, and has all the portability of a full-sized atlas. No specs were given on its battery power, which really is important considering it's powering two LCD screens. It claims the screens are anti-glare, but I've yet to see an LCD that functions well in full sunlight. Nothing is also said about the price, which given the way things go, is probably going to be more expensive than an ibook.

Shiny, yes.

Must have? for me, no.

besides, I already have a kindle

[athelind.livejournal.com]

I confess, I'm not impressed by the "frakkin' huge" part of the thing. I mean, my DESKTOP has paired 1440 x 900 monitors that don't look a lot bigger than the Know.

The INTERFACE, though, and all of its functionality should readily adapt to a smaller form factor.

[hafoc.livejournal.com]

(Winston Mode On:)
This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
(Winston Mode Off)

Freaking Huge does it for me. I don't care if the thing is the size of am 8.5x11 and weighs five pounds, because properly set up and equipped a device like this would be all I'd need to haul around, and I'm hauling around that much miscellaneous debris anyway. Large planner calendar with notepad, journal, WRITING journal, pens, smartphone, notepad, lunch.. put the Kno in a minimum-size bag with pocket for the lunch, and I'm all set. Probably with less bulk and weight than I'm hauling now.

Assuming wifi or whatever-g connectivity, basic browsing and email, and a setup that would let one screen act as keyboard while the other was screen for a word processor, this would be about all I'd ever need as a practical matter. Probably still want a desktop machine for games and heavy duty writing, but hey.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Ooh. That one screen up as display/other screen down as input device mode would also allow for applications that use input devices other than keyboards. Mixer boards. Rheostats. Toggle switches and D-Pads. It's multi-touch; you could have virtual knobs, and twiddle them back and forth in combination. The universal, configurable console.

Someone needs to hire Mike Okuda to create the GUI.

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

Woo, that was damned impressive right there. I'm already in the market for a tablet PC, but something like this might be even better. :D